Who Will Bell the Cat? (怪談 猫魔鈴, Kaidan Mao Mo Rin?) is the 137th chapter of the Ranma ½ manga and the first chapter of the Ghost Cat Arc.
Summary[]
One summer night Shampoo returns from her trip to China. She stops by the Tendo home and gives Ranma the Mao Mo Lin bell, and she keeps the smaller of the two bells for herself. In the middle of the night, Akane is awakened by a creepy voice asking her to "be his bride". Akane immediately assumes Ranma is trying to play a joke on her when she finds his bell in her room, but soon the whole house discovers that the spirit of a giant cat resides within the bell.
Plot Overview[]
Ranma scares Akane as she watches a horror show.
One a dark and sultry night, Ranma finds Akane watching a horror film. After quietly sneaking in, Ranma waits for the film's to build before the dramatic reveal before shouting "boo!!" at the top of his voice down Akane's ear.
Obviously aggravated by this, Akane chases after Ranma with a Shinai in the hope of getting him back. The chase continues to the dojo's garden, where suddenly the wall behind Ranma begins breaking up, only for Shampoo to come crashing through on her bike.
When the trio head back inside, Shampoo presents Ranma with a gift she presumably got on her visit to China, a giant metal bell. Ranma initially mistakes it for a giant metal acorn, but Shampoo explains that when a couple keep the pair of bells (of which Shampoo is wearing the other), they're guaranteed to get married! Unfortunately, Ranma refuses the gift which angers Shampoo who then turns into her cat form in order to terrify Ranma into accepting the gift. Akane, meanwhile, looks on at the scene in contrived silence.
Akane is horrified to see someone requesting her to be their bride.
Later that evening, Akane struggles to go to sleep as she thinks about how pathetic Ranma is, when suddenly she hears a bell ringing. Quickly looking up from her bed, Akane sees the large bell floating in front of her before a giant pair of eyes appear whilst a voice asks if she'll be their bride.
Terrified, Akane screams at the top of her voice (waking up Soun and Kasumi in the process) before angrily taking the bell to Ranma and slamming it on his head. With Ranma now awake, Akane questions him why he does these things before explaining to Ranma what he's apparently done. Once Ranma's head the story, Akane asks if he wants to marry her or kill her.
Ranma, however, is surprised at hearing the word "marry", prompting Akane to remind him he did say "be my bride". At that moment, Soun arrives and happily declares that he knew deep down Ranma loved his daughter, forcing Ranma to retort to Akane if insanity runs in her family.
The ghost cat reveals the bells are meant to bring him his lost bride.
Still trying to figure out Ranma's motives, Akane asks how the bell got into her room, to which the irritated Ranma exclaims that, if she wants to know, she should ask the bell. No sooner does Akane mock the idea of a talking bell, than the bell suddenly speaks up with another request for Akane to be it's bride.
After Soun attacks it, he and Ranma give chase after the possessed bell until Ranma manages to kick the bell into a dark corner of the house, where the ghost begins taking it's true form. Despite Akane's warnings, Ranma goes up to the ghost in order to fight it, but is terrified when he (and everyone else) sees that the ghost is actually a giant Bakeneko (ghost cat). The crying cat then grabs Ranma and begs him not to hate it.
Some time passes and the cat explains that he's searching for his lost bride before adding that she should be wearing a little bell. Immediately recalling Shampoo being in possession of the other bell, Akane asks the ghost cat about the legend of the bells being meant to bring couples together; although the cat corrects her by explaining the bells are meant to bring a cute girl to him.
Shampoo violently attacks the ghost cat when it tries to take her as it's bride.
The cat then asks where the small bell is, but, despite Akane's claiming she has no idea, Shampoo suddenly appears with an order which Kasumi made as she thought things might take a while. Seeing the small bell around Shampoo's neck, the ghost immediately declares her his bride, but Shampoo swiftly defeats the cat whilst furiously refusing the proposal. As the ghost cat sits back saddened, Shampoo explains she's "dating" Ranma, causing the ghost cat to declare that if he defeats Ranma then Shampoo'll have to marry him instead.
Unfortunately for the ghost cat, the terrified Ranma lands a single blow to his noise, forcing the ghost cat to retreat for now, but warns it isn't finished yet. As Soun and Genma enjoy their takeout, Soun comments on how persistent the ghost cat is despite it's lack of power. Shampoo, meanwhile, happily holds onto the still terrified Ranma as Akane hits him whilst adding that hugging Shampoo won't save him.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
Quotes[]
To be added
Trivia[]
- The English title of this chapter is a reference to the fable of Belling the cat.
- The TV show Akane is watching shows a faceless man. This is actually a Noppera-bō, a legendary Japanese creature.
See Also[]
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